Professors demand university honour lecture hall agreement

Former University of Iceland professors Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson and Ragnar Árnason have demanded that the university honour a rental agreement for a lecture on Iceland, the European Economic Area and the European Union, mbl.is reports.

In a letter to University of Iceland rector Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir, they said the lecture was moved from the university’s ceremonial hall after it was deemed too political. Dr Carl Baudenbacher, a former president of the EFTA Court and one of the world’s leading experts on the EEA Agreement and European law, was scheduled to speak.

The lecture was advertised in Morgunblaðið on August 6 under the name of the university’s Research Centre for Politics and Economics. The advertisement also named Áfram Ísland and Almenna bókafélagið, which wanted to draw attention to Baudenbacher’s lecture.

That same day, two university employees told Ragnar Árnason that the rental agreement for the ceremonial hall would not be honoured because the event was a political meeting organised by Áfram Ísland and Almenna bókafélagið. They said this had not been disclosed when the hall was booked.

Hannes Hólmsteinn and Ragnar reject that explanation. They say the Research Centre for Politics and Economics is organising the event, not Áfram Ísland or Almenna bókafélagið. They also point to examples of interested parties independently advertising lectures and events held at the University of Iceland.

“Ragnar provided no incorrect information when he booked the hall,” the letter says. At that point, it was not clear which university institution would organise the lecture, it adds, describing the event as an academic lecture by a leading expert on European affairs. The university has recognised Baudenbacher’s expertise by appointing him as a visiting professor to teach European affairs, they say.

The professors say it would, albeit unintentionally, amount in practice to an attack on academic freedom and the University of Iceland’s role and objectives if Baudenbacher were prevented from giving an academic lecture at the university because some people disagreed with his academic approach or with those promoting the lecture.

They say the central point is that Baudenbacher will give an academic lecture organised by a university research centre, and that it should not matter whether other parties want to draw attention to it.